New Beginnings and Second Chances
by Eren Heichou
Summary: Everything has ended. They were victorious and everyone was free, yet it's too late for them...Or is it really?
1. Too Late

Helloooo guys! Man, I really need help with my tears I finished the game a week ago but I'm still affected *bawls so hard* TT_TT 'twas beautifully cruel waahh their smiling faces at such a time tore my heart to pieces...why you do this Square Enix TT_TT

But anyway, basically this fic is just to help me with my need of Machina/Ace fics and sort of recuperation from my heart damage due to the ending but I hope you still read this!

THIS SHIP NEEDS SOME LOVE!

Also, I own nothing. The game and it's characters and the songs used are owned by their respective owners (Square Enix and Bump of Chicken for the song Zero)

Well, that's all guys! See you around! Love ya all!  
(flies back to my other fandom)

P.S This will be a multi-chaptered fic

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Chapter 1 – Too Late

"….my voice, … you?"

' _Huh?...where am I?'_ Greyish green eyes opened as he heard a muffled voice.

"You hear my voice, don't you?"The voice spoke once again, this time loud and clear.

' _Dr. Arecia?...'_ He squinted his eyes to try and see clearly but his efforts were for naught. All he can see was the blurry tunnel vision-like image of the doctor standing in front of him.

He felt constricted. He can't move his body at all, it feels like he was frozen and his arms were heavy.

"Please tell me all about yourselves." Dr. Arecia continued.

' _Tell her?, what is she talking about?'_ Machina wondered.

"Tell me about my children…"

After hearing that from the doctor, everything came back at once. The battle with Rem, how they ended up as crystallized beings with him carrying Rem, how they helped Class 0 with their confrontation with Cid by giving them their powers, how everything ended once and for all.

He doesn't know how Arecia could talk to them but he tried his best to relay to her all that happened. Then light began to shimmer around them.

"I understand. Then you two shall go forth."

Then suddenly a blinding light shrouded them and he felt warmth start to course inside his body. The crystal encasing him and Rem shattered into tiny pieces. Their body materialized and this time they opened their eyes to reality leaving that hollow blurry world they were in.

He looked towards Rem and gave each other a smile.

"The world will change to one where death cannot be forgotten." Dr. Arecia assured them, and they were glad, especially Rem because she had always wished in her heart that people will be able to remember the people whom they were with, shared memories and experienced a lot of things with. At least, this time people can die without the fear of being forgotten and can be remembered with their legacies left behind.

Machina, on the other hand was thinking that now that everything was over, he should go and apologize to Class 0, especially to Ace…, he was mean to him after learning that Ace, was the reason that his brother was called to the front lines. He should not have treated him like that. Ace and the others welcomed him and Rem with open arms and yet all he did was let his selfish judgment cloud over him.

At least this time, he could make up to them.

He and Rem continued to walk towards the end of the hall and get out of Pandemonium, but Arecia called out to them once more.

"So please, I ask that you remember my children."

His eyes widened at the realization of what that statement applied and he whipped his head towards Rem and finding out that she was looking back at him with same wide eyes.

Bright light glimmered and they disappeared from Pandemonium and found themselves transferred back to Akademeia. They were in the school's lobby near the destroyed great portal. The whole academy was in shambles. Pillars were destroyed and toppled, and parts of the ceiling were gone, sunlight streaming through them. Dead bodies of dominion cadets and tribunes lay almost everywhere, comrades in war gone but not forgotten. A horrible sight indeed but strangely peaceful.

Machina and Rem shook themselves from the stupor they were in and ran towards Class 0's classroom.

"..mai..go no…a..shioto…kieta" A very weak voice hauntingly sang.

Machina pumped his legs and rushed towards the door faster. Why was the hallway so long? Damn it!

"Ace!" Machina shouted as he ran. Rem following him.

"Ka…wa..ri ni i..nori no uta…wo…" Ace's voice quivers, becoming weaker by every second and Machina's heart beat faster with fear.

"No…no,no,no!" Machina sprinted the last few meters to their classroom.

Ace's singing was reduced to broken hums as he felt the last of his energy drain out of him. He felt so weak that he didn't have the energy to flinch when he heard the door slam open. He just stared at its direction, his eyes not really focusing on the blurry bodies that just arrived. He heard a loud gasp and he figured that it was Rem and of course there was Machina.

Ah, Machina.

He had a lot of things he wanted to say to him, apologizing being the top of his list. Right now, not being able to talk to him was his only regret. He was happy, slightly regretful but content. Everyone in the class was with him, holding each other's hands not wanting to let go not even in the face of death.

Rem and Machina were frozen from the sight they saw. Everyone from class 0 laying together, holding hands around a makeshift flag they made from their worn weapons and torn capes. It was as if they were just sleeping, resting from the exhausting fight they had but Machina knew better.

They were gone. Dead.

But there was Ace.

Machina ran towards Ace hoping that he could still be able to do something, anything to keep him alive. He reached for Ace's hand and clasped it in his.

"Ace! Ace please…" Tears were uncontrollably running down his face. "Ace, no, stay with me!"

Machina released Ace's hand in favor of holding his blood-streaked face. Machina held Ace close to him and rested their foreheads together. He looked at his eyes that were running out of light.

"Please, Ace not now, don't leave me…" Machina shamelessly sobs out.

Ace wanted to say something to him. That he was glad that they were there, that he and his siblings were content and happy but he can feel that he needs to go, to that place where the others were waiting for him.

That he loved him.

Ace used all of his remaining strength and raised one hand to cup Machina's face. Machina immediately leaned towards it and placed one hand over it, trying to keep it close to his face.

"Sorry, sorry that I wasn't there when you needed my help - _hic-_ sorry, Ace…I-I love you, that's why d-don't, don't leave me! Please!" Machina begged.

Ace's heart broke at Machina's pleas. He wanted to stay too but his body is giving up. Tears silently ran down his eyes and looked directly at Machina's eyes.

"Thank you." His eyelids are feeling heavy.

"I..love…yo..u" Ace took his last breath and finally closed his eyes and his body became slack.

"Ace?" Machina called with a trembling voice.

"No no no no! Ace!" Machina screamed in agony. He let go of Ace's hand and hugged his body close to him. He cried, bawled, sobbed but there was nothing he could do to bring Ace back. Magic no longer exist in their world. It vanished when Dr. Arecia took the crystals with her.

Machina stayed there clutching Ace's body as he calmed down from crying. He brushed the hair away from Ace's face and kissed his forehead then his lips and muttered a soft "I love you" before gently laying down Ace's body.

He stood up and wiped the tears from his face and turned back to Rem who just kept quiet at the scene displayed before her. Giving her respects to her fallen friends. The two of them stood together and looked at their friends when a breeze came by and the card resting beside Ace was blown away. Machina saw it and caught it. He intended to keep it in memory of Ace.


	2. A Beginning Or A Dream?

**Hello my wonderful readers! I'm alive after not updating for so long. Hooray! I apologize for that. It's just that college life is occupying most of my time. And yeah, you must have guessed this is gonna revolve around the "What if" ending. So, yeah I hope you enjoy this. Ta ta~ Love you guys!**

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Chapter 2 – A Beginning Or A Dream?

Greyish green eyes slowly blinked open and Machina let out a sleepy groan as he slowly rouse from a fitful sleep. Sunlight assaulted him as soon as he opened his eyes and made him cringe. His throat felt really dry and even though he slept, he still felt tired. After stretching a bit, his hand instinctively searched for something.

"Huh? ..." Machina became more alert when he can't find _it._

He got off the bed and stripped the comforter and frantically searched.

"Where is it?" Machina began to panic. He knew he slept while holding it.

He dropped to his knees and looked under the bed.

"Where is Ace's card?! Dammit!" He cursed as he crawled further under the bed.

' _Wait. Bed?'_

From what he remembered, he did not sleep on any bed last night. He and the remaining dominion students and tribunes found salvageable cloths and blankets and made makeshift mats to sleep on. So why was he here right now? Under a bed? Just what is happening?

He crawled out and almost hit his head as he rushed out. Saying that he was shocked was an utter understatement. His heart was pounding so fast and his head was hurting from confusion. Why was he in his and Ace's dorm room? The rest of Akademeia was destroyed except for the main building which was able to somehow withstand the attack of the Rursan Reavers, so why was he here?

Machina looked around and concluded that this was their room indeed. The room was fairly large, considering that they belong to Class Zero. There were two beds parallel to each other on each side of the room. They also had their own desks and closets. Although, what confirmed his conclusion is the bookshelf standing beside the bed across from him. It was full of history books and stacks of playing cards. It was undoubtedly Ace's.

Machina felt his knees become weak and sat on his bed. He let out a shaky breath as he took in everything. His brain can't seem to decide whether to feel happy or confused.

"I'm going crazy." He muttered to himself.

"I think I've gone crazy." There's no way this was happening. Could this be a dream? Or what happened yesterday was the dream?

Machina hunched over and leaned his elbows on his knees and held his head on both hands. He tried to think of a logical explanation to this…this phenomenon. Did Dr. Arecia made another cycle? But that can't be right? She said that those were over now.

"Aghhh!" Machina let out a frustrated growl. There's no use thinking about it right now when his brain can't seem to process anything at all.

Machina stood up and walked towards the windows. He looked outside and everything was indeed fine. All the buildings were standing proudly in their glory and students were roaming the campus as if nothing happened. As if the Tempus Finis did not happen, as if nobody died at all.

Everything felt…normal.

He was staring outside, lost in his own thoughts when he heard the door open. His head whipped towards its direction.

"Oh, Machina. You're awake. I thought you'd still be sleeping."

Machina was frozen where he stood. He can't believe it. His mind must be toying with him.

"Machina."

If this was a dream, then he would never want to wake up again.

"Hey, Machina."

Ace. It's Ace. Ace and his expressive, calm, blue eyes. Ace and his soft blond hair. Machina can't help but let out a sob.

"O-oi, Machina. Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Ace moved to rush towards Machina but before he could do so, Machina ran and tackled him to the ground.

"Oof." Machina held Ace's head to cushion it as they landed with a loud thud.

"Oi, Machina what's wrong? Bad dream?" Ace tried to reach up for Machina's head but found his arms crushed in Machina's hug.

"Ace, Ace, Ace…" Machina chanted Ace's name and held him tighter, afraid that he might disappear. He can't believe that he could hug Ace again, alive.

"Did something happen?" Ace asked as he stayed still and let Machina hug him.

Machina shook his head and made a sound of disagreement. "Nothing, I'm fine." Machina replied as he remained hugging Ace on the floor.

"So was it a bad dream?"

"…Y-yeah, I think." _'I hope.'_

"You think?" Ace sound skeptical but Machina just remained quiet and just held him.

They stayed there on the floor for a few minutes in nothing but silence and Machina's shaky breaths as he tried to control himself.

Machina eventually stood up and reluctantly let Ace go from his arms. He offered a hand to help Ace stand up which he accepted.

"Sorry about that." Machina looked to the side and avoided looking at Ace's eyes. He realized that it must have been awkward and weird to suddenly hug Ace like that.

"It's fine." Ace replied as he patted dust from his summer uniform, his white shirt slightly wrinkled from Machina's hug.

"But are you really fine, Machina?"

Machina hesitantly looked at Ace and almost, _almost_ , flinched at Ace's calculating and searching gaze. His heart clenched at the genuine worry that is clear in Ace's eyes.

' _You've always been sensitive to other people's feelings, huh Ace?'_ Machina thought.

"I see you're still the same." Machina unconsciously mumbled as he got lost in his own thoughts.

"What's that?" Ace asked when he didn't get what Machina said.

Machina blinked as he realized that he's drifting away again.

"Nothing." Machina waved it off and looked for something to change topics. He saw the books that scattered on the floor which fell due to his 'assault'. "Do you have class today?"

"Huh? No, I just came from the library. It's the weekend. You kept bugging me yesterday that you've got somewhere you want to visit today so I figured that I should go back early and wake you up myself before you whine about not waking you up early. Did you honestly forgot it?" Ace said with a half-annoyed half-amused with a not so well-hidden fondness in his tone.

Machina was at a loss on what to say. He really doesn't get what's happening. He had been driven with his emotions earlier, but why is Ace acting like they've known each other for so long? When had he and Ace become that close to plan things like this? Yes, he loved him but he was not able to do anything about it, regrettably so.

Just what in the Diva's name is happening?

"Oh, and Izana said to go visit him at the Chocobo Ranch once in a while you know. He kept bugging me about it. You really are brothers with how annoying you two can be."

Machina's eyes widened at that. His brother? His brother is _alive_? That can't be, right? This must be a dream. All these are too good to him, and if this is really a dream then he doesn't want to wake up again.


End file.
